Sheet measuring and cutting machine



March 9, 1937. J R JQHNSTQN 2,073,420

SHEET MEASURING AND CUTTING MACHINE Filed Dec. 20, 1934 Patented Mar. 9, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE This invention relates to machines adapted to 2,073,420 SHEET MEASURING AND CUTTING MACHINE Joseph Rogers Johnston, Atlanta, Ga. Application December 20, 1934, Serial No. '758,532

8 Claims. (Cl. 242-56) Fig. 2 is a top plan view corres ponding to Fig. l

cut webs of paper, fabric and similar materials into sheets of selected length, and the main object of the invention is to provide a simple and readily operable device of such character which will serve to wind off the material from a roll or other source of supply, measure the same accurately to any desired length and cut the same into sheets. While the utility of the invention is not limited, it is particularly useful for sheeting wax paper and transparent viscose or cellulose wrapping material, and the same involves an arrangement of parts such that the length of the sheets measured and cut may be varied over a considerable range of sizes. Additionally, the proposed device enables a plurality of lengths to be wound off and then simultaneously cut into separate sheets, and sheets may also be measured and cut singly when desired.

Essentially the inventive structure comprises a material receiving or winding oif reel, length measuring and supporting means, and a sheet cutter. A special feature of the invention is in the combinative arrangement of parts to provide a simple compact structure incorporating all of such functional elements. The length measuring means is itself formed as a reel which may be quickly adjusted to measure and wind off any desired length according to a gauge constituting a part thereof. The cutting device is arranged as a component part of the measuring and reeling mechanism so that when the material has been measured and one or more lengths wound off it may be severed by a quick stroke of the cutter. In addition to serving its normal purpose, the cutter has the additional function of acting as a clamp for the advance edge of the material in order to facilitate the beginning of the winding off operation, being so placed as to hold the material firmly and enable the same to be wound off smoothly around the device.

The preferred model of the machine incorporating my invention permits the cutting of sheets in lengths from eight to twenty-six inches, but without any essential change in design machines may be constructed to cut sheets in sizes from two inches upward to any length which might normally be required for wrapping or other purposes.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood, reference is made to the following detailed description of one practical embodiment ,shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of the machine as the 55 operator would see it;

' rotatable shaft.

1 and showing the combined measuring and reeling mechanism and the cutting mechanism in detail;

Fig. 3 is a view in end elevation looking from the right of Fig. 1;

Figs. 4 and 5 are detailed views of the opposite ends of the cutter, showing particularly the mounting thereof;

Figs. 6 and 7 are corresponding top and front views of the. cutter;

Fig. 8 is a more or less diagrammatic view showing a number of lengths of material wound off on the reel preparatory to cutting; and

Fig. 9 shows the lengths of paper of Fig. 8 after cutting into sheets.

The machine shown in the drawing is the stand model, but it will be understood that the invention can just as well be provided with a frame permitting the same to be secured to a wall or to a table or counter.

The stand l shown in the drawing is of well known construction suitably braced to make the same rigid. The roll it of paper or other material to be sheeted may for compactness be conveniently supported in the lower part of the frame, by arbors I2 and I3 on a shaft l4, which shaft is removably supported in arbors l and I6 secured to the cross members [1 and I8 of the frame.

Positioned above the roll of materialat the upper end of the frame are bearings l9 and which support a rotatable shaft 2| provided at one end with a crank 22, and upon which the entire operative mechanism of the invention is supported and rotatable as a unit.

In order to also serve as a length measuring mechanism for the material the winding off reel is formed as a pair of opposing parallel receiving arms 23 and 23' supported by and rotatable with the shaft 2| on" opposite sides thereof.

The cooperative material receiving and supporting arms 23 and 23 are mounted in adjustable relation so that the spacing between them may be varied for the measuring and winding off of sheets of various lengths. The mounting is constructed so that the arms will be simultaneously moved to or away from each other sothat both will always be equidistant from the supporting shaft. In the preferred embodiment of the invention as shown in the drawing, the mounting will include supporting hearings or collars 24 and 25 rigidly secured in. spaced relation to the The reel arms are interconnected and supported by cross bars 26 and 26' which bars are pivotally supported by the respecmoved from the roll of material H.

tive collars 24 and 25 through suitable bolts. The connecting bars, as best shown in Figure 2, at their opposite ends are pivotally secured to the opposing reel arms through bolts or rivets.

It will be evident that with the arrangement just described the opposing reel arms 23 and 23' will always be supported in parallel relation and be simultaneously adjusted to and away from each other by swinging the connecting bars on their supporting pivots which constitute their connections with the collars 24 and 25. The severalbars and arms making up the reel move as a unit for purposes of adjustment, and since the collars are rigidly secured to the. shaft 2| the whole reel will rotate as the crank is turned.

To definitely fix the spacing of the opposing reel arms 23 and 23' and determine the size of the sheets of material to be wound oif on the reel, a gauge is provided as a component part of the reel structure, the reading of which will be altered by the adjustable spacing of the reel arms. As shown in the drawing such gauge may be con structed as a quadrant 2i rigidly supported on collar 25 and underlying the swinging cross bar 26. With this arrangement bar 26 will swing across the scale of the quadrant as the spacing of the reel arms is adjusted. The scale will preferably be graduated in inches or some other linear measure so that the exact length of material Wound off by the reel on one rotation will be indicated thereby. In this connection it may be pointed out that the spacing between the extreme edges of the opposing reel arms 23 and 23' will at any time determine the length of material wound off by half a revolution of the reel.

Any suitable means may be provided to hold the reel structure in any adjusted position. In the embodiment illustrated the quadrant 21, which as above mentioned is rigid on collar 25, may be provided with opposing arcuate slots 28 and 29, and bolts and wing nuts 30 and 3| inserted through the swinging cross bar 26 which may be readily manipulated to lock the bar and the reel structure as a whole in any adjusted position.

The cutting mechanism comprises a component part of the rotatable reel structure and comprises a cutter blade 32 pivotally supported at one end by a machine screw 33 on reel arm 23. As best shown in Figure 5, the cutter blade is held infrictional engagement with the reel arm by a spring 34 supported on screw 33. At its swinging end it is provided with an'operating knob 35 and. at such end is pressed into clamping engagement with the reel arm by spring member 36. Such spring member is fastened to the underside of arm 23' and is formed to allow the cutter blade to swing outwardly.

The cutter blade, as will be observed in Figures 1 and 3, is secured to the reel arm farthest re- Such arrangement has several purposes. The first advantage is that the end of the paper web may be drawn across the reel bars 23 and 23 and inserted between the latter arm and the spring pressed cutter blade. The blade therefore serves as a clamp to secure the end of the paper to facilitate the beginning of the reeling operation, and the second advantage is that sheets of paper in length equal to doublethe distance between the extreme edges of the reel bars 23 and 23' may be measured and out. These points will be more apparent from, the subsequent explanation.

In the operation of the device the first step to be taken is to adjust the spacing of the reel arms 23 and 23' through wing nuts 30 and 3! and as determined by the reading on the quadrant scale 21. The edge of the roll of paper will then be grasped and drawn upwardly over reel bar 23 and inserted between cutter blade 32 and reel arm 23'. The crank will then be rotated one or more turns depending upon the number of sheets which it is desired to cut of the particular length for which the arms are adjusted. If only one sheet is to be cut, the crank will be given one complete revolution and then the cutter blade 32 will be swung outwardly by means of its handle 35 to sever the sheet of paper which will have a length equal to twice the distance between the extreme edges of the coacting reel arms. As will be evident, however, from Figure 8, any desired number of sheets of the given length may be wound off onto the reel, two being illustrated in such figure. When the desired number of sheets have been collected on the reel the cutter will be operated as before to sever the paper into the desired number of single sheets. Immediately following the cutting operation, the sheets of paper will appear as shown in Figure 9, the free end of the paper roll falling backwardly out of the way as the result of the cutting action. The spacing of the reel arms may then be readjusted and one or more sheets of a different size can then be measured oii and cut in a similar manner.

I From the detailed description and the drawing it will be evident that I have provided an extremely simple and compact device for measuring and cutting webs of paper, fabric or the like into any desired number of sheets in a single operation, and that by means of the simple gauge employed the length of the sheets to be cut may be readily determined as a preliminary matter without regard to the number of sheets. The structure comprises a minimum of parts, all of simple construction, and wherein the winding off and length measuring mechanisms, the length determining gauge and the cutting mechanism are all combined to form component parts of a rotatable reel structure. The combined mechanism as well as the roll or other source of material to be cut may be conveniently housed in a small and simple frame, and all parts are so arranged as to be manipulated by the operator with great ease and rapidity.

It will be evident to those skilled in the art that the particular form and detailed arrangement of parts herein illustrated and described may be varied to a considerable degree, and it will therefore be understood that I do not intend to be limited to the exact form of the invention shown in the drawing. On the other hand, the scope of the invention is to be determined in accordance with the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A combination winding and measuring machine for paper and like material including a rotatable reel having a supporting shaft, a pair of reel arms supported in spaced relation on opposite sides of the shaft for measuring and winding material into predetermined lengths, a series of supporting bars pivotally connecting with the shaft for swinging movement relative thereto, said bars being also pivotally connected with the opposing reel arms to provide for the adjustable spacing of said arms through swinging movement of the bars about their shaft pivots, and a quadrant fixed to the supporting shaft over which one of the connecting bars swings, said quadrant bearing a gauge indicating through the position of said bar the spacing of the reel arms.

2. A sheet measuring and cutting machine for paper and like material comprising a supporting frame, a shaft rotatable in the frame, a flat winding reel composed of a pair of parallel receiving arms supported on opposite sides of the shaft and rotatable therewith, means for adjustably spacing said reel arms relative to the supporting shaft to vary the length of material taken up by the reel on each rotation thereof, and a cutter blade carried on one side of one of the adjustable reel arms and pivotally mounted to swing outwardly for cutting the material into sheets of a size determined by the adjustment of the reel arms.

3. A machine for winding and cutting paper or like material into sheets comprising a frame,

a shaft rotatable in the frame, reel arms rotatable with the shaft and a cutter blade for severing the material into separate sheets extending along one of the reel arms and pivotally supported at one end thereof to swing outwardly to sever the material.

4. A machine for winding and cutting paper or like material into sheets comprising a frame, a shaft rotatable in the frame, reel arms rotatable with the shaft and a cutter blade mounted on one of the reel arms for movement relative thereto to sever the material wound on the reel, said cutter blade being supported in clamping engagement with said reel arm to permit the end of the material to be clamped to the reel arm preliminarily to the winding operation.

5. A machine for winding and cutting paper or like material into sheets comprising a frame, a shaft rotatable in the frame, a flat winding reel composed of a pair of arms rotatable with the shaft and a cutter blade extending along one of the reel arms so as to underlie and support the material as it is wound up by the reel, said cutter blade being movable outwardly beyond the periphery of the reel to sever the material into sheets corresponding in number to the turns of material wound on the reel.

6. In a sheet measuring and cutting machine for paper and like materials, a frame, a shaft rotatable in the frame, a parallel pair of reel arms on opposite sides of the shaft and rotatable therewith, a series of cross bars interconnecting the reel arms and supported by the shaft, said cross bars being pivoted to the arms and the shaft for swinging movement so as to enable the spacing of the arms to be adjusted and regulate the length of material wound on the arms in each revolution, a gauge rigid with the shaft for indicating the spacing of the reel arms and the length of sheet into which the material is to be cut as determined by the position of one of the pivoted cross bars, and a cutter carried by one of the reel arms adapted to cut the material wound on the reel arms simultaneously into single sheets of uniform size.

'7. A combined winding and measuring machine for paper and like material including a rotatable reel having a supporting shaft, a single pair of reel arms adapted to wind material in flat plies and adjustably supported in spaced relation on opposite sides of the shaft to permit the winding of plies of different length, a quadrant gauge rigid with the shaft, and a pivoted arm arranged to swing over the gauge as the spacing of the reel arms is adjusted so as to indicate on the gauge the length of the plies wound with different adjusted spacing of the reel arms.

8. A machine for winding and cutting paper into sheets comprising a supporting frame, a shaft rotatable in the frame, a flat reel comprising a pair of flat arms spaced on opposite sides of and supported by the shaft over which the material is adapted to be wound in fiat plies, one of said arms being divided edgewise into complementary sections over which the material is wound, one of said sections having an outer cutting edge and being mounted for swinging movement relative to the other section to sever the material at the fold line between the plies.

JOSEPH ROGERS JOHNSTON. 

